Improvement in pantaloons



H. L. BARTLETT.

Pantaloons.

No. 220,051. Patented Sept. 30, 1879..

NPErERS, FHOTD-LITHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON o C.

onal strain has separated its warp and weft 'fectually stretch the fabric from which the UNITED STATES PATENT .OEEIoE.

HENRY L. BARTLETT, OF HARTFORD,

CONN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD OF HIS RIGHT TO OEOILIA A. WHITE AND TlVO-THIRDS TO MARTHA A.

FOWLER, BOTH OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PANTALOONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 220,051, dated September 30, 1879 application filed April 23, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. BARTLETT, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements pertaining to Pantaloons, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, which shows a front view of my pantaloons turned inside out.

The object of this invention is to prevent the kneeing or bagging of pantaloons at the knees; and consists in fastening on the under side of the breadth of the pantaloon'sapieg of strong non-elastic cloth-as linen or the like-cut on the bias, and so arranged that it relieves that part of the front breadth covering the knee from all strain, and, consequently, prevents the pantaloons from becomin g unshapely and ill-fitting.

That the utility and application of my invention may be more readily understood, 1 will first explain the cause of this bagging at the knees, and then describe my invention as applied to correct the objectionable feature.

If an attempt be made to stretch a piece of cloth it will be found that the cloth yields most, not in the direction of its warp or weft threads, but on a diagonal line midway between, and, being sb stretched, has no tendency to contract, for the reason that the diagthreads. Now this isjust the kind of strain that comes on pantaloons at the knees when a person wearing them sits down, and explains why this garment, when worn by people of sedentary habits, is so often out of shape and fits so poorly. The strain that causes the difficulty comes from the seat of the pantaloons forward to the inside of the leg, and then curves over to the knee, and in taking this course follows the right direction to most efpantaloons are made, and cause bagging at the knee, as the front breadth is usually so cut that its warp-threads run up and down.

To prevent this I use a piece of stout and thin fabric, like linen, out the same width as the front breadth-possibly a little narrower,

but not wider-and fastened to it at the seams on the sides and top. This piece need not necessarily extend to the bottom of the pantaloons, as it is found that to reach to just below the knee is all that is required. This fabric, if of some kind of cloth, would be, to a small degree, open to the same liability of stretching as the cloth under which it is placed were it not out in a particular manner, and by this I mean cut in special reference to the strain that will be brought to bear upon it.

Since fabrics are the rongest or yield the least in the d inect' of their warp, if this protecting piece be so cut that its warp-threads run if the direction of the strain, all possibility of its being stretched is avoided, and of course that of the fabric it protects; and such, in fact, is the way I cut this protectingpiece, the essential feature being to so cut the piece that the direction of the strain shall be the same as that in which the piece yields the least, be it of some kind of cloth, to which I have confined my description, it being the most desirable material, or be it of some other material, such as leather, for instance, which, I

in some cases, may be equally good.

In the drawing, the letter a represents such a protecting-piece as I have described, and the arrows show the direction of the strain that causes the bagging at the knee, also the direction the warp-threads of the protectingpiece should have. v

A modification consisting of a strap of proper width and material, running from the bottom of the fly over the knee and fastened to the seam on the outside of the knee, would accomplish all that a larger protecting-piece would, but is objectionable insomuch as it is much in the way in putting on and. taking off the pantaloons.

I am aware that pantaloons have heretofore been made with linings attached on all sides, so that, among other points of attachment, they were attached to the outer edge of the front breadth of the pantaloons, in the vicinity of the knee, which vicinity, for convenience sake, I will call the knee point, and were also attached to the bottom of the fly; but two things are noticeable in this connection: first,

that the many other points of attachment of such linings fatally interfere. for the purposes aimed at in myinvention, with the free action and play of such linings; and, second, that such linings, for the obvious purpose of preventing" waste of material, have not been cut on the bias, and hence have not been inelastic, but have been open to the same trouble as the pantaloons proper, and have aggravated the trouble in question.

My invention is applicable to pantaloons of either of the common lined or unlined c011- structions, and is limited to pantaloons made of a textile fabric.

I am also made aware that it has been attempted to cure the trouble in question by a strengthening-picce fastened to both edges of the front breadth of the knee-point; but I do HENRY L. BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

BEN-L E. FOWLER, ROBERT F. GAYLORD. 

